Surprise extra £4.5bn for schools as Reeves goes to wire on cabinet cash

More money for SEND reforms and teachers' pay while health and defence are big winners in spending review

- Rachel Sylvester Political Editor

Schools will receive an extra £4.5bn a year in this week's spending review, taking the funding for each pupil in England to its highest-ever level.

In an interview with The Observer, Rachel Reeves, the chancellor, said children had been at the front of her mind as she balanced competing Whitehall demands. "I want young people to have the opportunity to fulfil their potential, wherever they are from, whatever their background," she said. "That's what really matters to me."

The real-terms increase in core schools budget, which covers pupils aged 5 to 16, will help to fund teachers' pay rises announced by the government last month.

Bridget Phillipson, the education secretary, also persuaded the Treasury that money was needed to implement radical reforms to the Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) provision, which will involve more pupils staying in mainstream schools.